A StarNewsOnline Blog

The emporium for all things literary

Local author Anne Clinard Barnhill (“At the Mercy of the Queen,” “Queen Elizabeth’s Daughter”) will give a reading from her new novel, “The Beautician’s Notebook,” at 1 p.m. Sunday, July 9, at Old Books on Front Street, 249 N. Front St. The book marks a change of pace for Barnhill: a contemporary murder mystery, set in a beauty salon in a small Southern town with a distinct resemblance to Brunswick County. To read my review, click here.

Wilmington author Anne Clinard Barnhill shared the finished version of the cover for her first contemporary mystery, “The Beautician’s Notebook.” scheduled for publication April 21 by Moonshine Cove Publishing of Abbeville, S.C. What client secrets did Willa Jo Temple write down in The Sassy Lady beauty salon? And which ones were worth killing for. This is Barnhill’s first foray into the 21st century, at least in long form. Her previous novels, “At the Mercy of the Queen” and “Queen Elizabeth’s… Read More »

With a spate of health problems behind her, local author Anne Clinard Barnhill has a new publisher (Moonshine Cove of Abbeville, S.C.) and a new novel, “The Beautician’s Notebook,” coming out April 21. As her publicists note, it’s her first novel set in the 21st century, or at least in modern times. She used contemporary setting in her short story collection , “What You Long For,” but both her previous novels –“At the Mercy of the Queen” and “Queen Elizabeth’s Daughter”… Read More »

Local author Anne Clinard Barnhill is having one of her short stories, “Produce,” staged by the Touring Theatre of North Carolina in Greensboro. The production is part of “Local Produce,” an evening of short plays based on stories by Barnhill, Alice Hodgins and Kevin Varner, to be staged Friday, Saturday (May 1-2) and May 8-9 in “The Crown” at the Carolina Theatre, 310 S. Greene St. in Greensboro. For complete show and ticket details, click here. A longtime resident of… Read More »

A poem by local writer Anne Clinard Barnhill has been included in Volume VI of the “Anthology of Appalachian Writers,” released by Shepherd University and the West Virginia Center for the Book. The poem is from Barnhill’s work in progress, “Conversing With the Dead.” Barnhill earned an MFA in creative writing at the University of North Carolina Wilmington with what would become her memoir “At Home in the Land of Oz: Autism, My Sister and Me.” She has also published… Read More »

Mark your calendars for next Thursday, Jan. 12. That’s when Anne Clinard Barnhill returns to the Port City for a reading of her first novel “At the Mercy of the Queen” at 7 p.m. at Pomegranate Books, 4418 Park Ave. The novel deals with Henry VIII’s second queen, Anne Boleyn, who ended up beheaded, but not before giving birth to the future Queen Elizabeth I. Barnhill has already promised she’ll show up dressed in what a proper Tudor lady would… Read More »

About This Blog

This is an emporium for all things literary: occasional book reviews, local book news, items about authors (mostly from the Cape Fear area but occasional visitors) and miscellaneous rants.

The usual author is Ben Steelman, feature writer and book columnist for the Star-News. He’s that shaggy, slightly smelly character you spot lurking in the back aisles of your local bookstore. Physically, he has more than a passing resemblance to Ignatius J. Reilly, hero of John Kennedy Toole’s “A Confederacy of Dunces” — some observers have noted other parallels as well.